Paris? Really? You really want to move to France now?

It is 2003. The United States has declared war on Iraq. France has declined to help. French Fries? No way…they are Freedom Fries! Nobody seems to like the French. So, when Jen and I tell our friends and family that we are talking with a church in Paris, they think we are crazy.

And yes…maybe we were crazy. I had been teaching at a Christian school, but was not enjoying the experience. Most of my students weren’t opening up to me the way that I was used to. Maybe they were too afraid of getting into trouble with the administration if they shared what they were dealing with me. I knew that I couldn’t stay.

Jen and I had interviewed at two different churches. When one said no, we were really down. It seemed like such a great church and opportunity. When the second said no, we were relieved. The interview that we had with them was one of the strangest experiences that I had gone through. (read the blog here)

Jen had a job as a receptionist and had permission to surf the web during down times. I asked her to search for any schools, seminaries or other websites that listed ministry positions. She came across a guy’s website where he listed international youth ministry positions. She found a position in Paris at a church that had the same name as the church we were attending. She emailed it to me so we could laugh that there was a church in Paris with the same name as our church.

To her surprise, I said that we should send them my résumé and see what they say. Now, you must know that my Jen has a French degree, studied in France, and absolutely loves Paris and France. (A note to all those guys out there…score some major points with your wife and move them to their dream city. They will love you even more!) After some emails and calls, we ended up packing up our stuff, storing most of it in our good friends’ garage, and moving to Paris.

Our friends and family did think that we were crazy. But, it was the best, and hardest, three years of our lives. Interestingly enough, many of the French people we met wondered why Americans weren’t visiting Paris like they used to. When we told them that it was because France didn’t support the war, they were confused. They didn’t see why that would keep people away from Paris. ”Don’t they still love Paris?” A definite difference in how Americans and the French approach life.